Artie Buerk, who co-founded the Seattle venture capital firm Buerk Dale Victor, has received the University of Washington’s Gates Volunteer Service Award.

Todd Humphrey

Seattle’s CleverSet — which has developed a product recommendation service for online retailers — beat out five other startups for the “Best in Show” and “Most Likely to Exit First” awards at today’s Launch Pad event at the Web 2.0 Summit. Chief Executive Todd Humphrey said he was thrilled with the honors, especially since more than 1,000 audience members voted on the pitch. “Not that many Seattle companies sail above all others at an event like this,” he said. Here’s more on the company.

Ultreo, the power toothbrush maker that raised $11.3 million in venture funding earlier this year, has countersued Procter & Gamble for claims it made earlier this year that the Redmond company’s toothbrush did not remove plaque at levels it advertised. More from Joseph Tartakoff of the P-I, who quotes Ultreo Chief Executive Jack Gallagher as saying: “We prefer to compete in the marketplace, not (in the) courtroom.” Gallagher, who served as president of Sonicare maker Optiva and Philips Oral Healthcare from 1999 to 2002, should know a thing or two about lawsuits in the toothbrush arena. In 1999, Optiva lost a jury verdict in a case brought by Gillette Co. for making false or misleading claims about the Sonicare toothbrush. That suit — like the one filed this year — centered around the Oral-B toothbrush, which is now owned by Procter & Gamble.

Organic To Go, the Seattle company that operates 25 organic cafes in four markets, said it has raised $4.3 million of an anticipated $6 million financing round. Total investment now stands at $23 million.

Redmond’s WildTangent has expanded a deal with H-P to put its online gaming network — consisting of as many as 30 arcade, puzzle and card games — on new H-P desktop and laptop computers. The deal will allow WildTangent to offer premium versions of games to H-P customers beginning in January.

The New York Times reports on how large media companies — including NBC, Reuters, Disney, Hearst (owner of the P-I) and others — are tossing cash into digital media startups. It’s a trend I also have reported on in the Seattle area — noting that Newsvine, Recipezaar and Healia have all been purchased in recent months by large media companies. Meanwhile, others — including BuddyTV and Jobster — have received venture capital investments from the likes of Gemstar-TV Guide International and Reed Elsevier (operator of LexisNexis and Harcourt Education.)

Jott Networks, which has developed a way to convert voice to text and have messages sent via e-mail or text message, has rolled out a new promotion called “Jott the Vote” in which users of the service can have their messages sent to presidential candidates. To date, the most frequently “Jotted” candidate is Republican Congressman Ron Paul who has received 47 messages, followed by Sen. Hillary Clinton with 40 messages and Sen. Barack Obama with 23 messages. A sample message for Ron Paul: “End the IRS! End the Fed! No taxes! Go, Ron Paul!”